


Contingency

by Lenore_V



Category: Naruto (Anime) RPF
Genre: Arranged Marriage, BAMF Temari (Naruto), BAMF Tenten (Naruto), F/F, Hyuuga Hiashi is a Bad Person, Hyuuga Hinata & Uchiha Sasuke - Freeform, M/M, Marijuana, No canon timeline, Recreational Drug Use, Shakespearean Suicide, Trans Hyuuga Neji, suicide TW
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:28:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 4,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25790602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lenore_V/pseuds/Lenore_V
Summary: In which the concept of love is misunderstood, taken from people, and something you cannot live without.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Karin, Hyuuga Hinata/Yamanaka Ino, Hyuuga Neji/Rock Lee, Temari/Tenten (Naruto), Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 12
Kudos: 14





	1. Hello

The night it happened, Hinata and Sasuke laid in bed. Together. They’re backs faced each other, and the tension in the room was strangling. Hinata’s anxieties were clear on her face, while Sasuke maintained his neutral countenance. The ends of her hair tickled the place where his sleep shirt didn’t cover his back. The room was practically black with drear. Sasuke sighed and flipped over. 

“ So, we have to marry each other.” 

Hinata followed suit. Two pearl eyes stared back at him. 

“Mmhm.”  
“ In a few weeks.”  
“ Mmhm.”  
“ Do you think we could change their minds?” 

Hinata thought for a moment. With the iron grip her clan had on Konoha, one her life, she hadn’t even thought of trying to fight back while they still had time. But she frowned, and wrung her hands together.

“Mh - mh”, she murmured, shaking her head. An apology was in her eyes.

Sasuke let out a low groan that almost sounded like a suppressed whimper, and rolled back over. Hinata stared for a moment, and then rolled over herself. The separate mattresses and pillows of the futons was meant to give the betrothed some semblance of privacy, but the white blanket that draped over them like a layer of ice destroyed that illusion. Hinata closed her eyes and prayed that sleep would take her to a different place. Sasuke stayed awake. Who knows? Maybe eyebags would look badass on him. Maybe frown lines would too.


	2. Wishful

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Want is a luxury.

Hinata was up first. It didn’t count for Sasuke, because he never slept in the first place. Sunlight streamed through the windows and pooled onto the futon. 

Sasuke stood, his arms crossed under his cloak. His hair hung in front of his face, and was evidently greasy, and the two pieces of his royal blue yukata were neatly folded at his feet and stacked on top of one another. He didn’t look happy, but that was his default look. Maybe it was just his resting scowl.

Hinata was on the other side of the room. Her sleeping clothes were also tidily discarded, and she was wearing her usual lavender top and black shorts, save for her kunai holster and pitch - colored boots - they were next to her white kimono. He noticed that she had draped a burlap - colored cloak around herself, the Hyuuga crest decorating the back. She kneeled on the ground, brushing her hair, even humming a little bit. It could’ve been a pretty scene. It would’ve been a pretty scene. It would've been if Hinata wasn’t avoiding his gaze at all costs, and Sasuke was just trying to cast his glare directly at her. Sasuke broke the buzzing silence.

“ A servant came in before you woke up.” 

She nodded.

“ Yes. Ichaki - san.”  
“ She brought that.” 

He waved a hand in the general direction of the small table and two beige cushions in the far corner of the room. On both sides of the table, there were chopsticks on the left side, a yunomi cup out of which steam danced and dissipated, and, between the two, a bowl of tofu, the little white blocks partially buried in broth, and a little leaf of parsley on the foremost piece. Hinata hummed in agreement. After a pregnant pause, she spoke again. 

“ Would - Would you like to eat?” 

Hinata had kicked her stutter some time ago, but the tenuous situation seemed to be making it return. Another reason for Hinata to hate him. Great. He shrugged, the the center of his lips coming up to form an uncaring expression.  
“ Sure.”

Hinata, without another word, stood and sauntered to the table at the other end of the room. SHe sat down and her hands fell in her lap. She stared at them silently.When she glanced up, Sasuke was seated in front of her. She began to chew another nail, and Sasuke could see a torn hangnail between her teeth. Gross. She wiped her hands across her lips and smiled penitently. She picked up her chopsticks and pinched a piece of food between them. Sasuke picked up a piece with his fingers and tossed it into his mouth. Hinata made a small ‘ah-’ noise, but decided not to correct him. He took the tea cup between his palms and tried to focus on the burning. It felt good, and he continued his icy glower.  
After a few more silent sips and swallows, breakfast was over. Hinata offered a walk. Sasuke agreed.  
And now, traipsing through the winter cherry blossom leaves, Sasuke wondered.why he didn’t want to marry Hinata. She was kind, the archetype of the “perfect wife”, attractive, intellegent, a fierce kunoichi. But he didn’t. He didn’t know why, but he didn’t. He couldn’t - 

“ Good Morning,Hinata!” 

A blur of black and canary yellow ran a path through the dirty ivory, and the other colours seemed bland by comparison. Uzumaki Naruto stopped short before the pair. He smiled brightly. Sasuke rolled his eyes, biting back a smile. Hinata loosened the hook of their arms. 

“ Oi, dobe, what are you doing out?” 

Naruto shot him a dirty look.  
“ Don’t call me that, teme!” - here he shifted his gaze - “ Hey Hinata - sama.” 

The goofiness was evident in his voice, but Hinata shied away from the title. 

“P - Please don’t call me that, N-Naruto - kun.” 

Naruto’s expression softened, his eyebrows furrowed and his lips slightly fell from their grin. 

“ Anyways, congratulations on the engagement. Ino asked me to say so on her behalf as well.” 

Hinata shuffled around, further slipping away from her groom. He let her. 

“ Well, I’ve got to go. Training , y’know? Bye Hinata - chan! Bye Teme!” 

And he was gone as soon as he came, rushing off, and Hinata took a step forward, guiding them the other way. Sasuke fell into step with her. 

“ ...L -Like a lightning bolt, right? 

“ He is.”

“ Energetic,” she murmured.  
They continued to walk in painful silence. Sasuke glanced down at her a few times. She just stared at the plush, bountiful petals around their feet with an empty, yet content look on her face. He finally groaned, causing her to snap out of her daze. They were practically at the compound again, and he had planted his feet firmly on the ground. 

“ Can we just stop with the whole “newlyweds” act already, Uchikina Shojo?” 

Shy girl. 

The nickname stung more than it should’ve. Hinata looked up at Sasuke, and his cold, stoic eyes bore down on her. She bursted into laughter, pulling her arms out of Sasuke’s to clutch her stomach as she doubled over. 

“ What?”, he shouted, still somehow quiet.

“ It’s - It’s just - y- you’re such a Uchiha!” 

“ And what the hell is that supposed to mean?”, he demanded. 

“ No - No - one would give me such a name besides another member of my clan - or a U-Uchiha. And the way you a -act! So - So annoyed a-all the time!” 

Sasuke tried to bite back a smile, but it evidently didn’t work. He chuckled along with his bride - to - be, as she shakily stood back upright. 

“Shinjimae…"

Hinata covered her mouth with her hand chuckled at him, mischievously, the way a child who couldn’t help herself would. A loud voice called out. 

“Sasuke - kun, Hinata - chan!”

A girl with long, platinum blonde hair padded up the hill. She was out on some sort of walk, evident by her cloak and the winter boots she wore, and was grinning at the pair as she waved her hand. Hinata whipped her head around, and she couldn’t help but feel a tingling blush creep up her neck as she met the gaze of Yamanaka Ino.

“ Ah...Hello Sasuke - kun… Hinata - chan.” 

“ Hn”, Sasuke replied, his voice outrageously indifferent. From Hinata’s perspective at least.

Ino wiped the stray hairs out of her face and beamed at Hinata. The smile was toothy, genuine, and didn’t help Hinata’s current shyness at all.

“ Um, H - hello, Ino - san. H-h - how are you doing today?”

“ No need to be so formal, Hinata! I’m doing fine, going on a morning run. Looking for inspiration for m next bouquet”, she said. 

Ino flashed a toothy smile, and Sasuke looked at her with his same nothing - face as Hinata let her mouth fall agape at how she looked just like Naruto in the moment. She supposed she had a type.

“ Goodbye, you two - oh, and congrats tying the knot! I told Naruto to tell you, but that birdbrain never remembers anything -” 

“ He told us”, Sasuke interjected, a certain bite under his detached tone. 

“ Oh, okay Sasuke! Bye, Hinata!

She jogged off into the distance, followed by a sullen gaze from Hinata. She looked back up at Sasuke when Ino disappeared to the side of the hill. Sasuke was looking forward . Hinata felt a frown form on her lips. He took a step forward. And another. And another. Hinata sighed silently and chased him. She supposed he was used to it after all.


	3. What We Have In Common

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Relatability is a strength - if you know someone else's weakness.

The question came out of nowhere.

They day was not dying as much as it was dead. Or maybe the night was being born. Either way, Sasuke and Hinata had settled back into their side - by - side futons and resumed their positions from last night. Hinata was reading some book she had found lying around about chakra pathways and points and the heritage of the Hyuuga clan. She looked awfully bored. Sasuke laid beside her, fiddling with his kunai, sharpening it. It had been a wedding gift from Tenten, and, being the excellent craftswoman that she was, it was aerodynamic, lightweight, and packed quite the punch. The Uchiha fan was elegantly carved into it. In a way, Sasuke was dulling it with how hard he struck his stone against the weapon. He didn’t seem to care.   
Rain hummed against the windowpane, as silence buzzed in the hallways. Sasuke heard Hinata draw in a breath, and the Hyuuga spoke in that damnedly timid voice. 

“ N- Ne, Sasuke?” 

No response. The tapping against of his stone against his kunai skipped a pace, before resuming as usual. She huffed, and raised her voice. 

“ Ne, Sasuke?”

He grumbled lowly in response before flipping over, droplets of water sprinkling on her face from his hair - he had been outside when the storm began. Hinata gathered her courage and began again. 

“ If you could change one thing, out of anything you’ve ever done, what would it be?”

There was a slight spike of the last word, in a childlike way. It was a desperate attempt at small talk, but Sasuke let his eyelids fall threateningly at her words. 

He was deciding whether to humor her or not. One on hand, that was one thing he had never done in his life - humored someone, which was a large part of his whole demeanor, really. Uchiha Sasuke, the ice prince.  
But, on the other hand, that question. The answer to that question… was something he really needed to tell someone. He looked at Hinata. She would do. 

“ My biggest regret in life… There was someone who mattered to me, like, a lot - and I-” 

He paused. What did he do? Did he let them go? Did he do something wrong? What was his sin?

“ I… I drove them away.” 

There was a long, damp silence in the room. Sasuke tilted his chin up, and, for once, Hinata definitely met his gaze. 

“ I lost someone important to me too. I feel like, if I had tried more, or, really,done something at all, things would be different….” 

Sasuke turned back around. Hinata stayed for a moment, unable to get mental traction. After a while of staring, almost waiting for something, Hinata sighed and turned around. She chewed her thumbnail, the less ragged one, the right one. After a while more, she pulled her nail out of her teeth, and started again. 

“ I think we both wish we had done something different.”


	4. From Shadows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He wanted to protect her, and wanted to not want that, but he could only watch from the shadows.

Neji was kneeling beside Lee. The storm whipped against the windows, the binding cloth around his chest felt chokingly tight, his skin was freezing and his head felt aflame- but the silence was interestingly comfortable, and he leant against Lee, slipping into and back out of sleep. 

Rock Lee was his - well, he wasn’t exactly sure what Lee was to him, but it had to be akin to what Tenten was to Temari. It made his heart go tight around itself when he saw how ridiculously casual they were, taking long walks hand in hand, exchanging playful, witty letters when Temari had to go back home. It was tight with happiness, but also an - admittedly selfish- sort of envy. They didn’t care who gave them what look. He had to care. So, Lee was something to him, a friend, a teammate, a rival, a confidant, and something warmer and more personal than anything he thought he could feel. 

He loved his team, though he would never admit it, loving Team Gai was a reflex he couldn’t shake.  
He loved his loudmouthed, clamorous sensei, despite his harsh descriptions of him. Gai cared for the three like they were his own children, lavished kindness and support on each of them.  
He loved Tenten, as fighty and sharp - tongued that she was, she had an unbreakable spirit and that was something that was more coveted and admirable than all the riches and fame in the world.  
And he loved Lee, fighty like Tenten, but ridiculously enthusiastic and hopeful. Neji tried to tell himself that that was a ridiculous mindset, and that there was a higher power that just adored messing with him, but he was wrong. And in every situation except this one, Hyuuga Neji hated being wrong.  
He scooted closer to Lee, pressing his side flush against Lee’s and deeply exhaled. The other boy turned his gaze on him, and he barely spoke above a whisper. 

“ I’m worried about her. My uncle was awful to marry her off to someone for power and show, and Uchiha Sasuke of all people.” 

There was venom in his words. He loved Hinata and Hanabi too. Hinata was foolishly passive and trusting, while Hanabi was namely gritty and rough, but he loved them. And he’d rather shove burning needles under his nails than let this happen to her. Lee wrapped an arm around him, rubbing warmth into his chilled body. 

“ I know, my dearest. I know.”


	5. Can't Help It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Love is flighty as much as it is indefinite.

Sasuke sat in between Naruto and Sakura, the constant sound of the chatter of his teammates a nice, usual set of background music. They had dusted the snow of off the little bench they had found close to the bridge they used to wait hours at for their every - tardy teacher. He kept his hands around his cup of hot cocoa, which Sakura had bought , thinking forward about how cold Konoha winters could be, and the Uchiha stared at his reflection. He was brought back to the park bench by a hand on his shoulder. 

“ Sasuke - kun,how is it, being with Hinata?” 

Sakura was smiling, and she was wearing a deep red cloak and fiddling with a charm hanging from her neck. It was a small bijou of a single cherry blossom, and Sasuke could tell that Karin had gotten it for her. Or made it. He shrugged.

“It’s okay. She’s fine.” 

“ C’mooooon! There has to be more than that!” 

Sasuke’s eyelids fell in annoyance. 

“ No, there really isn’t. I barely know her.” 

Another voice perked up. Sasuke turned his head to Naruto. 

“ Well, you have to know something about her!You two have been engaged for at least a week! Hinata - chan’s shy, she bites her nails and plays with her index fingers a lot, she’s really good at cooking ramen, she loves her little sister and Neji…” 

Naruto trailed off. Sasuke let his head roll down. He wondered if Naruto was this attentive when it came to him. It was a self - centered thing to want, and he wished he didn’t want it, but he’d be damned if he didn’t. He looked back at him. He had begun to count things off on his fingers. Snowflakes fell in his hair. Sasuke decided that the sudden heat he felt had to be frostbite, or anhidrosis. Sakura interjected again. 

“ Isn’t she dating Ino?” 

Now, there was something he hadn’t expected to hear.

Naruto gave a curious look. 

“ Not that I know of, Sakura - chan”, he replied. 

“ Well, she tells you everything, so I guess I’m wrong. It’s just, whenever we go window - shopping or just sit and drink tea together, the conversation always drifts to Ino. The way she spoke about her was the way I spoke about Karin to you two before we started dating, and you guys know all about that. I figured they were secret - dating or something, because Hinata always denied it when I asked.” 

Sakura took a long sip of hot chocolate. Was it possible that Hinata was… for lack of a better term - in his mind, at least - , the way he was? It brought a whole new light to their walk a few days ago. Sasuke had felt … whatever this feeling was for Naruto since they had become Genin. Hinata’s crush on Naruto during their Genin days had been painfully obvious, but it had just kind of … faded, after they became Jounin. He had a sneaking suspicion he now knew exactly where those feelings went. He stood, shifting his now - empty cup into his left hand. 

“ I… have to go…” 

The lie was unconvincing, but Sakura smiled understandingly, while Naruto held up his hand and waved his hand in a wave goodbye. Kakashi - sensei’s excuses must’ve gotten to their brains at some point. Maybe his too. 

“ Okay, Sasuke - kun! Don’t forget to keep us posted!” 

“ Goodbye, Teme! Say hello to Hinata chan for me!” 

Teme, Dobe, Usuratonkachi. The nicknames had lost their bite a long time ago. But he couldn’t help himself but to want. 

<>

When Sasuke got back to the Hyuuga compound, and up to the room he shared with Hinata, he slammed the door open, earning a tiny yelp from the bed. Hinata was reading something that looked like a book of taijutsu techniques, and her gaze now followed him to sit beside her, having thrown his cloak somewhere on the floor. 

“ … You’re in love with Ino.” 

Hinata choked. 

“ Wh - what? No, y - you’re mistaken, Sasuke - san! I-” 

Sasuke looked at her. His eyes smoldered like burning coals. She closed her eyes and focused on the doorknob in front of them. 

“ You’re right. I am. Now you’re going to tell my father, aren’t you?” 

It was Sasuke's turn to gag. 

“ What? What makes you think I’d do something like that?!” 

“ Because you hate me!”

They both fell silent. Minutes passed on the clock on Hinata’s bookshelf. Sasuke, for once, was the one to break the silence. 

“ And i’m in love with Naruto, aren't I?” 

It wasn’t a question. It was an answer.


	6. Breathe In, Breathe Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A super short 'detour chapter.'

CHAPTER SIX 

Breathe In, Breathe out 

The (relecutant) couple was giggly and giddy on the roof of the compound. Two pipes that smelled strongly of cannabis were discarded in a hidden compartment in Hinata’s bedroom floor, and they now laid side by side under the glossy, black sky. Hinata reached her hand up to the stars, covering the moon. 

“ The moon… it’s so bright… loud…” 

“ No.”, Sasuke replied firmly, shaking his head until he felt dizzy.

“ The sun is bright. The moon only… the moon is dark.” 

Hinata’s giggling fell silent. 

Ino and Naruto were suns. Hinata and Sasuke just reflected them.


	7. It's Hopeless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Above all, the absence of love hurts the most.

Sasuke stormed into the room. The click of his rain boots could be heard from outside, and, had he not been so frustrated, he would’ve had the presence of mind to shut the door behind him. Hinata came rushing in, like water, after him. She was red in her face, and was chewing her thumbnail harder and harder, and it was, evidently, about to fall. She spoke through gritted teeth, and through the rain and wind that whistled outside.

“ Why, why would you say that to Hanabi? Just because you're miserable, just because we're miserable, doesn’t mean you have to bring your darkness down on everyone else!” 

Sasuke scoffed. 

“ What, that she’d be crying like a little bitch the way you just were because she’d have to marry some rich asshole someday too? Sorry for the truth.” 

“ Of course that’s what I meant! She’s barely a chunin, how dare you try to take her innocence just because you can’t have your’s. You’re a… a pathetic excuse for a Uchiha, for a grown man!” 

The tension in the room froze. Hinata wondered if she should apologize. She wondered if this was the Hyuuga in her coming out, what she had seen in Hiashi for as long as she could remember, what she had seen in Neji during the chunin exams. Sasuke’s eyes narrowed, thin, onyx slits adorning pale, empty eye frames. 

“ I’m a pathetic excuse for a member of my clan? I’m a pathetic excuse for an adult? Funny, Uchikina Shojo, funny.” 

He leaned in close.

“ You’ll never be anything but a shy little girl who can’t say no to her dear daddy. You’ll always be an airheaded, pretty - faced, timid little -” 

There was a clap of thunder.

The slap came hard and quick. 

Hinata didn’t feel it until she felt a tingling burn on the palm of her hand that spread to her fingertips, and the shocked look on Sasuke’s face. His cheek looked like it was going to swell. Hinata held her palm, and clapped it over her mouth. No… she didn’t want to become… 

Just as she began to turn away, he spoke, quietly. 

“ Wait.” 

He was right. Hinata couldn’t say no. She waited. 

He took her hand and spun her to face him.  
He was smiling. His cheek was red from the previous strike. 

“ We just have to write our own ending.” 

And Hinata could cite that, without him saying it, she knew what Sasuke meant.


	8. Goodbye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Resolution doesn't always mean happy ending.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suicide TW in this chapter!

The next day, Naruto and Ino had just gotten home. The air at the bar had been somber and gloomy, like that of a sepulchre, so they exchanged parting pleasantries with each other and Sakura, who was still a mess of tears, and went home. Fog floated above the snow and fallen cherry blossoms, a sign that spring was just around the corner. A sunless season, this time at least. 

The bodies had been found, hanged in a way reminiscent of the old gallows where there was now a thick - branched oak, a dead, barren tree in this season. Hinata was in her ivory wedding gown, the ever - shy girl wearing the veil over her face, forever censoring her empty expression. Sasuke was in his wedding suit, his tie the color of Hinata’s garment, and his hair was slick against his face in the snow that melted over him. They wore their golden bands over their ring fingers in the almost - springtime mist.

Ino opened the door to her apartment. The white - washed walls looked suddenly gray, and the flowers seemed to droop and sway with invisible chills and winds. She ambled into her kitchen, dropping her purse, before she saw a flower that caught her attention. It bloomed and blossomed in every shade of lavender. A lilac? She hadn’t made a bouquet with a Lilac in a while. The most curious thing was the slip of paper with neat handwriting scrawled over it. She picked it up. 

Hello, Ino - san! I chose this Lilac because you taught me that they mean innocence and confidence! I always think about confidence and beauty and intelligence and fierceness when I’m around you, and I feel BRIGHTER when I'm around you because… I love you, Ino. You mean the world to me, and I’m sorry to leave this world. 

There was only one person she had ever taught that to. 

Naruto held a note in his right hand, and a small , wooden pendant of the sun with the Uzumaki crest on it’s center. He had found it hanging on his apartment door knob. The note read the following. 

Hey, Usuratonkachi. I know, by now, you know what Hinata - san and I have done to ourselves. I’m … sorry. And thank you. Thank you for teaching me light, like my sun. If you don’t get it, and you probably don’t, with as dense as you are, I love you, you idiot.

There was only one person who would make a love confession as insulting as that. 

Sincerely, 

Hinata, the timid Hyuuga heiress who you taught to love. 

Sasuke, The Uchiha Ice Prince who you taught to love. 

Goodbye, Ino. 

Goodbye, Dead - last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed Contingency, and sorry for the tragic ending. Thank you Sakuraeffy, Alumort, and another anonymous reader for leaving kudos, and thank you Alumort for your kind comments. I had a lot of fun writing this!


End file.
